A wedding venue owner in East Texas recently took out an advertisement in the local paper informing members of the LGBT community that he wouldn’t rent to couples seeking a place to hold their same-sex wedding, telling them “have your wedding elsewhere.”

Attorney and business owner Bob Flournoy bought enough space on the page to include a picture of his bride of 54 years, images of the wedding venue and three paragraphs explaining his policy. The ad states, in part, that:

The Creator … ordained marriage between one man and one woman … [W]e are proud to offer its use to those who are committed to a traditional family. Our Christian faith demands that we not participate in same-sex, transgender or any other perversion of marriage. If you disagree with our stance on marriage, please respect our Christian belief and have your wedding elsewhere.

It ends with a call to action for the “American Family.”

Bob spoke with the Stream at length about why he did what he did — and what he believes same-sex marriage means for the future of the United States.

A Decisive Stand

After the death of his parents several years ago, Bob renovated his childhood home — a historical landmark in an old sawmill town called Manning, Texas — and made it into a bed and breakfast. After many requests from visitors, he added a wedding venue, Texas Forest Country Weddings. While the bed and breakfast is rented to anyone and everyone, Bob says it occurred to him, particularly after the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision allowing same-sex couples to “marry,” that there would come a day when a same-sex couple would ask to rent the wedding venue. “That day has come,” said Bob, “and I have refused.”

Having watched Christian bakers, florists and photographers being fined for refusing to provide services to same-sex weddings, Bob felt compelled to make a public stand. “I began to be concerned about all the other Christian believers that were being threatened and intimidated to participate in their ceremony. Most of them couldn’t withstand the fight, because their livelihood was at stake.”

Since his livelihood does not depend on the wedding venue, Bob says he isn’t worried about losing critical income. He wanted to make a decisive public legal and spiritual stand at this significant and historical juncture in the fight for America’s freedom of speech and religion — First Amendment rights usually taken for granted, now slipping away.

Texas Laws

As an attorney, Bob is keenly aware of the laws in the state of Texas, and says he isn’t concerned about being sued. “I’m confident I would win,” he said. “The overriding law is the U.S. Constitution and the state laws have to comply with it.”

The states seeing religious freedom ebb all have state laws prohibiting gender discrimination. Texas doesn’t, he says. “We also have the 1999 RFRA (The Religious Freedom Restoration Act), which gives us the right not to be forced to participate in same-sex marriage.”

Bob said that LGBT activists systemically attack individuals and businesses that serve the wedding industry in an effort to get people to accept their lifestyle as normal, and Texas’ current laws are precisely why there hasn’t been a case in the state. He hopes to get into Texas courts to clarify what Texas’ rights are as far as freedom of religion. “I am not going to wait until I get sued,” he said. “At least I will make a public stand against same-sex marriage. That’s why I took out the ad.”

The response to the ad was overwhelmingly positive, Bob says. “People are saying ‘we agree with you 100 percent,’ ‘please stand for us all,’ etc. Less than five percent accuse me of violating the law or being a homophobe or non-Christian.”

Protecting the Sanctity of Marriage

It’s not about not renting to gays or lesbians, Bob is quick to point out. “My whole emphasis is on marriage and the sanctity of heterosexual marriages,” he said. “I am not going to be forced to participate in something that I believe is detrimental to families and contrary to the teaching of the Holy Scripture. I believe the Bible, and to make me participate in a same-sex marriage would violate my freedom of speech and belie what I have always said is true. In fact, freedom of speech may be a bigger issue than freedom of religion in this context.”

Bob believes the Obergefell decision erodes the family and will have dire consequences on the culture going forward. As for homosexual conduct, Bob said, “The individual is answerable to God alone just like for any other ungodly behavior. People have to deal with God about that. My issue is not about their conduct but forcing me to condone it by participating in it. I will not be part of destroying the American family, thereby destroying our society.”

Standing Together

Bob is concerned that Christians watching the other religious freedom cases around the country unfold like the florists or bakers will think that saying no to participating in a same-sex wedding is illegal. “No, it is not illegal! These are our individual rights under the Constitution,” he said, noting that Justice Kennedy’s opinion in the Obergefell case was clear that giving people the right to marry doesn’t mean that other people don’t have the right to dissent or exercise their opinion.

This fight is critical, Bob said, so it is imperative that Christians get involved. “Probably the most imminent and pressing thing they can do is to elect people to office that will appoint judges that believe in the Constitution and the founding principles of our country. If the wrong people get elected, they will be able to appoint Supreme Court justices that will change the balance on the Court and do what is politically expedient. Christians must also wake up to the fact that America is losing liberties once taken for granted. If we don’t fight they are going to take it away from us.”

Bob is convinced that Christians must work together as a group to be able to withstand the onslaught against religious liberty and freedom of speech, whether that means voting or providing encouragement and assistance to those dealing with religious persecution, just like Christians did for Chick-Fil-A when LGBT activists boycotted the restaurant in 2012 after its CEO Dan Cathy said he supported the biblical definition of marriage.

Stand and Fight

Bob said that many people don’t realize they can make a stand. “I want them to know that we have rights guaranteed by the Constitution that guarantee our freedom of religion and speech,” he said. “Either we stand and fight or we lose our rights.”

For now, Bob is continuing to practice law, rent out the bed and breakfast, and write contracts for the wedding venue. There may come a day when he will have to answer to a court about his business, but for now he’s standing strong in his belief that a God-ordained family is one consisting of one man and one woman, using his bed and breakfast, along with the wedding venue, as means to “please, trust and honor God in all we do.”